How to Knit the Purrfect Cat Bed

I’ve been looking forward to sharing this knit cat bed with you since I launched Crafts and a Cat two months ago; it was one of the very first cat-related DIY projects I came up with after Bisou was adopted. I always get questions about how to make it when I post a picture of the original bed on Instagram, so I thought now would be the perfect time to revisit it with a brand new gold leaf bed! Say you don’t know how to knit (yet), or you’re more of a dog person. Keep reading! This bed is so easy to make I promise any knitting novice can pull it off. Plus, it’s easy to make it a bit bigger or smaller, so you can customize it for a small dog or any other fur baby you live with. I’m sure there are more elaborate ways to knit a cat bed out there, but I like this method because it’s straightforward, simple and you don’t have to be an expert knitter to make it look great.

This pattern employs just one stitch – the most basic of them all, the humble garter stitch – and is knit on straight needles. In other words, it’s a large scale version of everyone’s first knitting project, the rectangle. Except this one is given dimension and purpose when you attach the ends and cinch the whole thing into a circle, making a soft and cozy cat bed! If you’ve never knit before, try searching YouTube for a video on how to cast on and knit a garter stitch. If you can figure out how to do those two things, you can knit this bed. This project is made even easier by using a bulky yarn and big needles that are easy to handle. Speaking of yarn! I wanted the bed to be plush and super comfortable for Bisou, but didn’t want to spend a whole paycheck on super fancy thick yarn. Instead, I used a technique called plying, which is simply casting on with multiple strands of yarn and knitting as though they were a single strand. The result is a bulkier, heavier knit at a fraction of the cost of luxury yarn. Keep reading for a detailed how-to; your cat (or dog) will thank you!

How to Knit the Purrfect Cat Bed

Ingredients

*_I used about 8 skeins of Lion's gold leaf yarn. These were much smaller than normal skeinsso take note of the total yardage when selecting yarn, not the number of skeins!_

Instructions

Cast on 30-40 stitches with two strands held together. Adjust the number of stitches depending on how high you want the sides of the bed, and also how many stitches you can comfortably work with on your needles. Leave a long tail, about two feet. You'll use these strands to assemble the bed. The first time I made this bed I cast on closer to 40 stitches, but on the shorter needles I used this time around I stopped at 33. Don't worry if you can't fit that many; the number of rows you knit is much more important to the size of the finished bed.

Knit at least 60 rows. I knit 65 for Bisou's bed; it's a snug fit for her now but the bed will stretch over time. The length of your knitting will determine the circumference of the bed, so if you want a bigger bed, keep on knitting! Of course, if you want to make the bed smaller than cat sized, you can knit fewer than 60 rows. (Update: one reader knit about 200 rows using 500 yards of yarn and her bed comfortably fits a 15 lbs. cat.

The number of rows you'll need to knit will vary depending on several factors including the weight of your yarn and how tight or loose your knitting is; if you're unsure if you've knit enough, hold the short sides end to end for an approximation of the bed's diameter.)

Cast off. At this point you have a long rectangular piece of knitting – you'll turn it into a circle by connecting the short ends to one another, forming a loop. Next, you'll cinch together one side of the loop – this closed side will be the top/center of the bed. The remaining open side is what sits on the floor.

Now that you've visualized how the bed will take shape, the detailed directions: using a darning needle and one tail strand you made when you cast on, stitch the short ends tightly to each other, making sure the ends match up.

Next, pick an edge of the loop you've just created – it doesn't really matter which side you choose as they're identical! Use the remaining tail strand to cinch together the edge of the loop you chose. I did this by weaving the tail through every other stitch along the edge. Cinch as you go, and then tighten the tail some more. It should be very tight! Tie off the tail – now you have the center of your bed! I left the opposite end open, but you could also stuff it with some fabric remnants then loosely close the end for an even more padded bed.

Hi Jen,
Yep, if you have a big rectangle you’re on the right track! You want to cinch one of the long sides of the rectangle together, corner to corner, by weaving the long tail along the edge of the rectangle (you can pull the tail through the edge every few stitches or so), then tighten until it’s all cinched into a circle! I hope that helps! Let me know if you have any other questions. 🙂
Kayleigh

Hi Lynne, not stupid at all! Once you have a long rectangle, you’ll want to attach the short ends to one another (so a horizontal fold along the shorter width of the rectangle). That should create a loop! You’ll then cinch one of the open ends together to create the surface of the bed (they’re identical, so it doesn’t matter which end)! I hope that helps. Don’t hesitate if you have any these questions!

Hi! I just made one and I’m not sure I did it right. I have a huge long rectangle so it looks kind of like a shoulder bag. I could’ve sworn that I stitched together the correct parts for the bottom, but it just doesn’t look wide enough for a cat to sleep in.

Hi Elise,
You shouldn’t really need to curl it – it should sort of curl on its own. Perhaps adding some more length could help? Some readers have added quite a few more stitches to the pattern for a wider bed than what I made. Bisou likes to be pretty snug in bed so I made her on the small side (and it has stretched over time).

Can you please post more pictures of the completed bed, without the cat in it, so we can see how it is supposed to look? Photos of the seaming process, step by step, would be tremendously helpful as welll.

I can’t wait to whip up this super-simple cat bed! The directions are easy to follow, and there is so much flexibility in how to size it. I have one old, skinny ginger tom (Tora, age 15) with joint problems and one young dilute ginger tom, a rambunctious “chub” (Pia, age 3) who still hasn’t figured out where (or how big) his butt is. I will knit Tora’s bed out of a super-soft, super-bulky baby yarn and Pia’s out of something a little sturdier.

I would love to see how this is assembled. But confused do I somehow attach the smaller one to the bigger one? I would love to make these for the cat shelter I volunteer at to be either given when cat adopted or used at the shelter.

Hi Tanya! Basically you knit a long rectangle, sew the short ends to one another to create a big loop, then cinch one of the open ends together to create the center of the bed. I’m going to go back through the post this weekend and revise the instructions to make things a bit clearer. Don’t hesitate if you have any questions though!

I was so excited to find a pattern for a cat bed that is worked flat! (My circular knitting skills are not quite there). I’m using Bernat Mega Bulky yarn with size 15 needles, but I think I’m going to just have to knit until it the diameter feels right. I have a 17 pound Maine Coon. I’ll let you know how it turns out! Thanks so much!

Hi Carol! My absolute favorite thing about this bed is how simple it is to make…it’s just a rectangle! 🙂 I’d love to hear how my turns out. For reference, Bisou is about 9 lbs. so I’m sure your finished work will be much bigger. If you feel like sharing how much you end up knitting I’ll definitely update the post for other readers with bigger kitties!

Hello I cant visualise the finished cat bed! Do you fold the edge down, I understand the joining the short edge, and gathering the long edge, pulling the tight to get the centre of the bed! I am left with the edge of my knitting where yours looks folded! Any andvice and guidance will be gratefully received.. TIA Melainey

Hi Melainey, yes, the edge is folded down so the edge of your knitting rests on the floor. I’ve shared this tutorial along with some additional pictures over at A Beautiful Mess. I hope the extra pictures are helpful! Here’s the URL: http://abeautifulmess.com/2017/08/make-your-own-knit-cat-bed.html
Let me know if you need any more help!

Thank you for reply so quickly Kayleigh.. Thank you also for the link so I can see how the side of the bed went, I can understand as well how its important to use a super bulky wool, to make the bed lovely a rigid, that might be the wrong word rigid, the bed holds its shape with a good thick wool!!

I think if the knitters know this bed is supposed to look like a giant beanie maybe they will understand a little.better.I made my first one with 2 strands of DK and 7.5mm needles.I wanted to use leftover wool and didn’t want to buy needles.I used 48 stitches and 94 garter stitch ridges which left me with enough wool to stitch
It up

Hi kayleigh when I read the directions for this.bed it reminded me of how I use to make hats. I would seam the side, then gather top real tight. Thus hat. the men wanted me to make hats.real long so would cover their ears. Then they would roll them up and wear above their ears. If they would then place hat upside down on table a kitty could crawl in and sleep.